Brothers from another mother - A Hades and Percy Jackson crossover

Chapter 5 - Slightly lukewarm

The first thing that hit when the trio walked into Asphodel was the heat. That, and the horrible sulfur smell. Zagreus really should've been used to it by now, you know, due to the fact that he came here all the time, but apparently he still wasn't. The boys seemed to be doing a fair bit better, as before they left he had the brilliant, genius idea to switch out their keepsakes for Demeter's magical snow horn. Still, he figured they should probably try to get through as quickly as they could. He imagined Hades wouldn't be all too pleased if one of them dropped dead from heatstroke.

'Alright, before we go I'm going to lay down some rules, so I need you to listen.'

Nico groaned softly, and Will thwacked him in the shoulder for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

'It doesn't make any sense at all, but there are these boats - the ones made out of bone - at the end of each chamber that we can use to safely get over the lava. They're pretty small, so no moving around on them, okay? No jumping, either. There are tiny gaps that the lava can get through, and it's not like the stuff from the Phlegethon. It will hurt you. Second rule, just stay away from the lava as much as you can. I don't want either of you to die a fiery death as a puddle of melted goop. With that covered, let's go!'

The boat rocked as they stepped onto it, and Will stumbled a little. Nico grabbed his arm, earning himself an appreciative look.

'Guys, seriously. Please try not to die.'

Thanks to Demeter's magic, their little underworld escape team made it through around eight chambers before Nico and Will started to sweat in the steamy environment.

Hmm. They should be fine, but we'll need to pick up the pace.

As soon as they stepped into the next chamber, the whole place was bathed in a ghostly bluey-turquoise-y light, and none other than death personified appeared in front of them for the second time.

'Than, buddy! Good to see you!'

'Hmph. Up for another one of our little competitions?'

'Always.' 

Before starting, Thanatos glanced at Nico and Will. They shrunk a little under his stone cold gaze, although he wasn't actively trying to be unfriendly. After all, demigods had been the one to save him from the chains of death at the risk of their own lives, although that was before him and Zagreus had started dating.

'Are these two helping you, Zag?'

'You... you could say that, I suppose. More like I'm helping them, but they've been pretty decent at taking down monsters so far.'

'As long as they don't get in the way here. That's my job.'

'Yeah, yeah.'

The gray reaper rolled his eyes, disappearing and reappearing halfway across the cavern. Monsters began appearing, and similar to when Zagreus had faced off with Meg, Thanatos summoned a large purple circle on the ground, entrapping them in the magic spell. No way was the prince going to stand for that, however, so he used the Aspect of Talos on Malphon to drag them out of the spell and bring them closer to him instead.

'Mh! I had those ones.'

'What can I say? You snooze, you loose.'

Thanatos scoffed, and waved his scythe again. This time, instead of a purple circle appearing on the ground, several lilac claw marks appeared above a few of the monster's heads. Upon waving his scythe a second time, they were struck down and immediately turned to dust. After a while of this, the room flashed blue again, and Thanatos disappeared, only to reappear on the other side of the chamber. 

'Hmph. You win this time.' 

In front of him appeared a centaur heart, a reward for winning the competition, and Zagreus picked it up. He felt a rush of vitality go through him, shuddering slightly at the familiar energy, and then the thing disappeared. Thanatos disappeared again, and the glow subsided.  Another orb took his place, this time a golden sort of orange to signify Hermes.

'Saw Thanatos again lately, here, boss, and want to tell you, almost looked as though he cracked a smile when he mentioned you, never seen anything like that with him!'

Out of the three boons that appeared, Side Hustle would probably be the most useful. Extra obol meant he could purchase extra items to give to the teens, and extra items raised their chances of survival significantly. Once Hermes was gone, they stepped onto the boat. Neither Will nor Nico had said anything, but his half-brother spoke up. 

'So, that was like... a death competition.'

'We don't exactly have a name for them, but... yeah, basically. You could call it that.'

'Cool.'

As the rickety raft of bones drifted to the next chamber, Zagreus heard a voice that he distinctly recognised as his boyfriend.

'Stay safe, Zag. Don't show up to the House again too soon.'